hmmm my first impressions was OOooOOo eeeeee AAAaaaa and wow.... hmmmm then I read what you said then looked at the ref photo I guess you wont fall victim to the copy a photo... but I was kinds hoping this idea came out of the back of your head...
cause its amazing...so for the ref there was only a head shot you came up with the rest?? if yes then this is cool.. then you let you imagination flow... so that works for me..
I would have liked to see more texture an the cloth its sorta blurred as you go down...
ok ok im just gunna say it... im still in awe and I dig it..
10+

kittyKat: Yes, the head was the only part I referenced from the photo. (I wish there were more photos of that costume, but there aren't. ) For the rest I used photographs of myself in that pose and I looked at a few stock photos of male torsos (myself being female), though the lighting ont he body was totally improvised. I try to keep my outside references to a minimum.

question... why didn't you make it female??
but again I do like it that he's male.. and you could have made a crazy story for it too... something like Oh the web he weaves the tangled web... something something like that.. btw I faved it..

Beautiful work.

@kittyKat: I dunno, really... the vocalist is male, so that may have influenced my decision, but I guess it's also because I find androgyny beautiful, and I feel like this character is genderles... I thought of it as one of my world's deities, a timeless creature. Also because while I have no problem with nudes, I don't like painting boobs too often because it gets kinda gimmicky, don't you think? I think it's more mysterious that he's male.

(All of my pictures have stories. But I'm not sure people appreciate me writing a novel every time I submit a new piece, so I try to keep it short and sweet. :B )

Thanks for the fave.

Nice work!
nice technique and colors

just LOVELY!...... +7/7
I cant stop looking at the hand thats reaching out.....

wow this is really wonderful.

Weired and beautiful.Good work on the hands.I like the blurred clothe - I think it's part of your original style and it helpes to concentrate on more sharpen issues)

Very good work, I love it.
What about that head ref? Was the idea completely stolen?

Very beautiful work! I think that you could have changed the head thing a little bit more but I still really like it! Well done, nice use of colours and lighting, good composition
+9/10

Really beautiful¡¡¡¡¡¡+10

perfect work!!

Great colors and beautiful hands. One thing i would say is that the pectoral muscle could be a bit more pronounced in the area where it connects to the arm.
great job!!

Thanks you for the comments, everyone.

Bao: I'm still bad at defining muscles... thanks for the crit. :]

Diane and ARTOONATOR: I wish I'd altered the head more, but everything I tried took away from the image... =\ It is a little too close to the original design than I wanted, but at the same time I think it is a design I'd come up with, too. I don't usually borrow so heavily from other things, so once won't hurt. I see so many other paintings copied off of photos that are never even credited... at least I'm being open about where I got the design from. And I think I've made the image my own.

Wow very beautiful moody scene

I like how the more defined things get seem to lead your eye up to the outstretched hand.

Fabulously painterly. Oozing with atmosphere, Sharp where it counts, and beautiful colour scheme. So much excellence here: lighting, anatomy, composition, drapery, colour. My top marks!

Absolutely amazing!!!!
I love this kind of paintings.
+8/8

Great work. Good atmosphere. +7/8

The composition and anatomy is great - has a very ethereal feel to it.
Excellent work

Thanks everyone!

i liked what you did. it gives me the feeling of simplicity, compassion, friendship. i love ribbons like this...

well...its simply amazing, with or withour reference copied...i like it too much

Very nice.

The hands are very well done. I love the shape and form a lot.

Beautiful!

I love your work .. they're very graceful and has a certain feeling of peace within ..

Definitely one of my favorites ...

wonderful!
+7/7

Very "ELEGANTE" and dark. ..I love this one... you’re one of my favorite artist

amazing!!

* gasp * I do sooo love this

Very very cool. I love the stringy-ness around the torso and the neck. ^^

Like the Colours and the Flow of the lines!

The raised hand if my favourite part!! Well done on creating great atmosphere too ^^

I really like the costuming in this one, and I find the raised, outstretched hand very appealing.

Great work! you are very good in your job.

That's my favorite work! Very suggestive tones, reminds me to a XIX symbolist painting